Ironing-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. (1. ROBERTS.

IRONING MACHINE.

No. 433,658. Patented Aug.- 5, 1890).

m5 Noam PETERS no, munruma, WASHINGTDN, u, c.

UNITED A STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. ROBERTS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE TROY LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, OF TROY, NEWV YORK.

lRONlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,658, dated August 5, 1890..

Application filed September 17, 1888. Serial No. 285,652. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. ROBERTS, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ironing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afnll, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of ironing-machines which are conployed more especially for ironing shirtbosoms and which embrace as their main operative parts or elements a revolving ironing-roller and a reciprocating support, to which the article to be ironed is secured, and which is given reciprocatory movement by means of a smooth driving-roller, which is rotated alternately in opposite directions and which acts upon the under side of the support for the articles to be ironed, so as to press the latter toward or against the ironingroller, and carries the said support endwise solely by its frictional engagement therewith.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a. side elevation of a machine embodying the same. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section taken upon line at 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail section taken upon line 6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 illustrates a modification hereinafter described.

As illustrated in the said drawings, the main frame of the machine consists of two parallel side plates or castings A A and horizontal transverse girts a a a a, located at the top and bottom of the machine. At the top of the frame pillow-blocks A A are bolted to the side frame-plates A A, and at the top of said pillow-blocks are located bearings a a for the horizontally-arranged ironin g-roller B.

C is a smooth cylindriodriving-roller mounted in a horizontally-arranged vlrtically-movablefranleDbeneaththeironing roller,andthe support for the articles to be ironed is located between the said driving and ironing rollers. The said support for the articles to be ironed is herein shown as consisting of an ironingboard E, secured upon the top of a base-board E, the lower surface of which comes directly in contact with the roller C, said ironing board being desirably sustained at some distance above said base-board in order to afford a space around and below the level of said ironing-board for the marginal parts of the articlesuch as a shirtwhich is being operated upon.

E in the drawings indicates a cast-metal standard supporting the said ironing-board from the base-board E in a manner heretofore common and Well understood.

e 6 indicate guard-pieces attached near the side margins of the base-board E and extending upwardly therefrom, to confine the garment being ironed to the top of the said baseboard and prevent contact of the same with the side of the machine-frame or the rollerbearings.

F F are two rabbeted guide strips or bars, which are commonly made of wood and are secured to the frame D by means of metal standards F F F F, Fig. 4, in position to engage the side edges of the base-board E, in order. to hold the latter from lateral displacement as it is reciprocated by the action of the roller C. Said standards F F F F also carry rollers F F, Fig. 4:, located at either side of the driving-roller to support the ironing-board when the latter is free from the ironing and driving rollers and to enable said board to be easily moved by hand in thrusting it into engagement with said rollers, as

heretofore common and well understood.

The frame D, which carries the shaft O of the pulley C, is pivotally supported at one end of the machine by means of brackets A A bolted to the rear margins of the frameplates A, to which brackets the said frame is pivotally connected by means of pivotbolts cl cl.

At the forward or opposite end of the machine the frame D is provided With a yielding and adjustable support which embraces features of novelty and which, in the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated is made as follows: Said frame is provided at its forward end with a forwardlyprojecting arm D, provided with a vertically apertured hub d, through which passes 'a vertical rod G, the lower end of which has screw-threaded engagement with a lug a upon the lower cross-girt a, and the upper end of which is adapted to slide freely through a lug a upon the upper cross-girt a.

G is a hand-wheel rigidly secured to the rod G at a point some distance below the frame-arm D, said hand-wheel being employed for the purpose of turning the rod, and thereby raising and lowering the same by the action of its screw-threaded end in the lug a H is a coiled spring placed between the hub of the hand-wh eel G and the end of the frame D. The weight of the forward or free end of the said frame D is thus sustained upon or by the said rod G through the medium of the hub of the hand-wheel and the said spring H. This spring therefore forms a yielding support for the movable end of said frame D, while the screw-threaded rod and hand-wheel thereon enable the frame to be raised and lowered for purposes of adjustment.

The purpose of employing a yielding support for the free end of the swinging frame D is to enable the ironing-board to move toward and from the ironing-roller under variations in the thickness of the cloth upon the said ironing-board, while at the same time holding the board with sufficient pressure against the ironing-roller to properly accomplish the ironing of the cloth. When the ironing-board is forced or carried between the ironing-roller and the driving-roller, a slight downward yielding of the frame D and compression of the spring H take placegbut as soon as the ironing-board passes from beneath the ironing-roller said spring expands and lifts the frame to its normal position.

Inasmuch as the spring H when released bythe passage of the ironing-board from beneath the roller is allowed to suddenly expand, it may have a tendency to throw upwardly the free end of the frame and the roller 0 above their normal position, thereby tending to throw the ironing-board out of place, the base-board E being at this time in contact with the roller, owing to the fact that it is commonly made somewhat longer than the ironing-board proper, as shown. To prevent any such objectionable upward movement of the frame D and the roller supported thereby, I place between the hub d of the frame and the lug a a coiled spring I, which is sufficiently stiff to hold the said hub d downwardly in contact with the spring H under all circumstances, and to cause the latter spring to act with less force in expanding.

The roller 0 is actuated by means of a gearwheel J, mounted upon the end of the rollerwhich drive-shaft is provided with fast and loose pulleys K K K in connection with which is employed a belt-shifting device adapted for rotating the shaft alternately in opposite directions at the will of the operator.

In Fig. 2 is shown a form of belt-shifting device which I prefer to use in connection with this machine. This is by way ofillustration, however, as any device for the same purpose could be applied, and the particular form shown is not herein described or claimed, as it forms the subject matter of an application filed by me in the United States Patent Office on the 29th day of April, 1889, Serial No. 309,005.

The ironing-roller B is driven directly from the gear-wheel J by means of a pinion B upon the trunnion of said ironing-roller arranged to intermesh with the said gear-wheel J, as clearly shown in the drawings.

' action of the spring H should be limited, so

as to prevent the entire upward pressure of the spring from coming upon the said gearwheel and pinion when the ironing-table is free from the ironing-roller, it being entirely obvious that if the rod G is screwed up so as to put the spring H under considerable tension, and there is no means of limiting the upward pressure of the spring, (as is the case in similar machines as heretofore made,) the spring will tend to lift the frame D and roller 0 very much above their normal position, and thereby not only jam the gears together, as above described, but render difficult the insertion of the ironing-board beneath the ironing-roller. It is also obviously desirable that the spring should be held permanently under tension or in a compressed state, so that it will act immediately with a desirable degree of resistance or pressure when only slightly compressed by the downward movement or yielding of the frame D under the action of the ironing-roller.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, two plates L L are placed against opposite ends of the spring H, said plates being provided with central apertures for the passage of the rod G. Engaged with said plates L L at opposite sides of said spring are bolts L L Fig. 2, provided at one end with nuts I Z, which are placed upon screw-threaded ends of the bolts. By tightening or loosening said nuts a greater or less 5 Inasmuch as the gear-wheel J and shaft 0,

degree of tension may be placed upon the spring, as desired. When, for instance, it is.

wished to give a greater pressure of the roller upon the article being ironed, the nuts are screwed up, so as to compress the spring H. This will lower the upper plate L, and thereby allow the free end of the frame D to fall to the extent that the said plate is drawn downwardly, and it then becomes necessary to turn the shaft G by the use of the hand-wheel G, so as to lift the spring I-I bodily until the ironing-board is again brought into proper position with referenceto the roller.

It is of course understood that when the spring H has been once adjusted to yield under a desired pressure ordinary adjustment of the ironing-board with reference to the ironing-roller (according to the thickness of the cloth covering upon the ironing-board and the article being ironed) is accomplished by turning the hand-wheel G up or down.

Means for limiting the upward movement or expansion of the spring H for the purpose above set forth maybe constructed otherwise than in the particular manner illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and I do not therefore wish to be limited to the particular construction illustrated in those figures as far as the broad claim upon this part of the invention is concerned. I have, for instance, in Fig. 5 illustrated another simple means of constructing the parts when an adjustable rod G is used to accomplish the vertical adjustment of the support. In this instance said rod G is provided with a hand-Wheel G for turning the same, and the supporting-spring II is placed immediately between and in contact with the hub of said wheel and the frame D. Said rod G is screw-threaded in its part adjacent to and above the hub (Z of the frame, and upon said rod is placed a nut G which may be turned up or down upon the rod, and which bears against the top of the frame D, so as to limit the upward movement of the latter as well as the expansion of the spring. G is a jamnuh which maybe placed against the nut G2 to hold the latter from turning on the shaft. Said adjustable nut G2 performs the same function as the adjustable plates Land L, hereinbefore described that is to say, it holds the spring H compressed to a greater or less extent, so that the driving-roller is pressed upward with a desired degree or force for the proper action of the ironing-roller when the ironing-board is passing between said rollers, while said driving-roller and the frame D are held downwardly to prevent the forcible contact of the gear-wheels and the lifting of the ironing-table above its normal position at other times. The spring I is shown in said Fig. 5 as located between the frame D and lug at at the rear of the rod G.

In View of the fact that the expansion of the supporting-spring II may be limited for the purpose and in the manner stated by means of a number of different devices which will readily suggest themselves to the skilled mechanic, the appended broad claim upon said devices for limiting the expansion of the parts or plates engaging opposite ends of the spring in case a spirally-coiled spring is used or otherwise engaging springs of other shape to limit their expansion. As shown in Fig.

.3, for instance, said relatively-adjustable plates 'or parts are formed by the plates L and L, connected by the bolts L L wh'ile, as shown in Fig. 5, the relatively-adjustable parts or plates consist of the hub of the wheel G and the nut G which parts are in this in-,

stance adj ustably connected by the rod G.

It will of course be understood that in a machine of the character described, wherein the ironing-board is driven solely by frictional contact with the driving-roller G and the ironin g-roller, as soon as the said board has passed from between the said rollers in either direction the said board becomes free from the rollers, and they may continue to rotate in the same direction without injury until their direction of motion is changed by the operator and the ironing-board is drawn or pushed into contact with the rollers till they again grip the said board and move it in the opposite direction. Any failure to actuate the belt-shifting devices and reverse the movement of the rollers at a particular time can have therefore no effect except to bring the ironing-board to a state of rest. -In practice the shirt bosom or other article upon the ironing-board will commonly be smoothed orpolished by reversing the direction of movement of the driving-roller before the ironing-roller passes from the end of the ironing-board in each direction, so that the roller will pass back and forth over the article without passing from the end of said board.

The ironing-board and base-board together constitute a support for the articles to be ironed, which support may obviously be made of other form than the particular one herein illustrated without departure from my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with an ironing-roller,

an opposing drivingroller, and an interposed support for the articles to be ironed, of a movable frame supporting the driving-roller, a vertically-adj ustable support for the said frame, a spring interposed between said support and the frame, and opposing relativelyadjustable plates for limiting the expansion of the spring, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an ironing-roller, an opposing driving-roller, and an interposed supportfor the articles to be ironed, of a movable frame sustaining the driving-roller, and an adjustable and yielding support for the said frame, comprising a Vertical rod having screw-threaded connection with the frame and provided with a hand-wheel, a spring in,- Y tel-posed between a shoulder upon the rod and the said frame, plates engaging opposite ends of the spring,-and screw-bolts connecting said plates, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an ironing-roller, 'a driving-roller, and an interposed support for the articles to be ironed, of a movable frame supporting the driving-roller, a spring afiording yielding support for said frame, and a weaker spring pressing downwardly upon the frame, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an ironing-roller, a driving-roller, and an interposed support for the articles to be ironed, of a movable frame supporting the driving-roller, a vertical rod G, engaged at its upper and lower ends with the machine-frame, having screwthreaded engagement with the latter and passing through an aperture in said movable frame, a hand-wheel attached to said rod G, a coiled spring interposed between the hub of said hand-Wheel and the said movable frame, and a second weaker spring I, surrounding said rod between the upper surface of said movable frame and the upper bearing of the said rod, substantially as described.

'5. The combination, with an ironing-roller, a driving-roller, an interposed support for the articles to be ironed, and intermeshing gearwheels upon said ironing-roller and drivingroller, of a movable frame supporting said driving-roller, an adjustable supportfor said frame, a springinterposed between the said ad- 3 ustable support and the frame, and opposing relatively-adjustable plates for limiting the expansion of the spring, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE O. ROBERTS.

\Vitnesses:

C. CLARENCE POOLE, F. W. JENKINS. 

